Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Thief of Thieves #1

I always give Robert Kirkman the benefit of the doubt, but this book probably isn’t for me. It’s a solid little action-thriller, starring an international spy and his sassy partner. The opening sequence is a little hard to follow, because it immediately pops around with flashbacks, leaving me a bit lost. The heist is clever, but not mind-blowingly original.

In fact, the bulk of the first issue shows the first time Redmond bonded with Celia over stealing cars. It’s an amusing sequence, but there really isn’t anything here to drive me to pick up the next issue.

The “cliffhanger” involves Redmond quitting a job that we don’t know about, possibly upsetting or disappointing a bunch of people we don’t know. Since we’ve had no exposure to any of these guys, I’m afraid there isn’t much dramatic impact for me in the announcement.

I guess Kirkman provided the plot, with Nick Spencer doing dialogue and scripting? Again, the plot seems fairly normal, and while the script was serviceable, it wasn’t sparkling enough to justify another issue either.

When I grabbed the cover art from the Image website, I saw this solicit for the comic:
Conrad Paulson lives a secret double life as master thief Redmond. There is nothing he can't steal, nothing he can't have... except for the life he left behind. Now, with a grown son he hardly knows, and an ex-wife he never stopped loving, Conrad must try to piece together what's left of his life, before the FBI finally catch up to him... but it appears they are the least of his worries.

Uhhhh, if you say so, guys, because other than the name Redmond, that’s not what this comic was about.

Shawn Martinbrough’s pencils are crisp and slick, and frankly, it’s the best-looking work I’ve ever seen from him. His “acting” through facial features on the characters is great. The book has a neat noir tone that really sells the thief high concept.